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I had intense sharp pain, like a knife stabbing, on the left side of my lower ribcage. It was so painful I couldn't sleep well and if I took a normal or deep breath I would scream out in pain. The advise nurse said it was just my expanding womb pressing against organs and my ribcage. (I was 26 weeks) I decided to go for long walks to try and get gravity to move everything down away from my ribs and after 2 days of long 2 hour walks, the pain was gone and is still gone. I am now 28 weeks.

I am 2 weeks postpartum and I am still feeling pain under my right ribs and into the back. I thought it would go away after labor, but to no avail. HELP!!

RIB PAIN HELP!!! I am 29 weeks pregnant and have rib pain for a couple of months now on the left side, right under my b___st. Just yesterday I discovered something that actually helps. It's not a perfect fix, but it works a lot better than Tylenol. I bought an ice pack that came with an elastic band with velcro. The ice is nice, I use that also, but for help through work and throughout the day I keep the elastic band on snug around my rib over a tank top, under another shirt. Not so snug that it bugs me, but snug enough to give some countering support against my widening ribs. The actual rib belts probably work too, but they are 6" wide and frankly I don't have 6" between my b___sts and my belly. This belt is about 2". So far it helps a lot, I was miserable before. I also don't sleep on my side, I just can't. I prop myself up on one of those long pregnancy pillows so that I am angled to one side and my top half is lifted up a bit so that I can keep my bottom half slightly twisted. This has helped a lot too.

I am 13 weeks pregnant, and this is my second pregnancy. In the middle of my 12th week, I began getting a terrible pain in my ribs under my left b___st. I had a slight cold, and I initially only felt it when I coughed. I thought it might be related to that, but I had never experienced pain like that even from worse coughs. In just this past week, the pain has extended around to my back, on my left side, and it hurts all the time. When I breath, when I move the left part of my body, when I stand up from a sitting position. My OB said that pain on the left side, unlike pain on the right, probably does not indicate another type of problem. However, she said that she had had this pain and realized how excrutiating it was. She said that her rib was fractured during her pregnancy and it just hurt a lot. I have been using disposable, adhesive heating pads, and they seem to help. They are convenient because I can wear them under my clothing throughout the day. She said to make sure to keep any heating pads away from the womb area, but keeping something over and around the ribs is fine.

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finally....33 wks & the pain is starting to go away!

OMG, i know this is an old thread but iv totally got this... it woke m up last night so bad ad today i couldnt walk it was that bad, i dont think i can handle this till 33 weeks!!!!!!!!

A couple of months ago I had a terrible pain in my back on the left side. It was excruciating every time I moved,coughed ,sneezed or anything. I was very worried because I thought it may be my kidney but I had an ultrasound on my kidney and it was fine. Turns out that it was a strained muscle. I am 33 wks now and huge so it could have been straining from just getting out of bed which at times is very uncomfortable.

I am now six months pregnant and have been in gradually increasing pain in my back and ribs for the last month. It used to just hurt in the evenings or when I'd been sitting down for a long time. Now I awake in pain. It's been a discouraging month, to say the least. I've searched the web and have had numerous appointments with doctors regarding the pain. The doctors were concerned about kidney stones so I was sent for a renal ultrasound, but the results were inconclusive. This past Friday, I finally received a reasonable answer from my doctor who is also head of the ob-gyn department! The condition is called costochondritis and is often found during pregnancy due to the expansion of the rib cage. "Costochondritis is an inflammation of the connective tissue between the b___stbone and the ribs. It causes pain in the chest that can be reproduced by pressing on the affected area between the ribs. This pain can be quite exquisite, especially after rigorous exercise. While it can be extremely painful, it is considered to be a benign condition that generally resolves in 6-8 weeks (unless you're pregnant, of course!). Treatment options are quite limited and usually only involve rest and pain relievers but in a very small number of cases cortisone injections and even surgery are sometimes necessary." Now, the problem for us pregnant women is that we cannot take anti-inflammatory drugs such as Motrin or Advil because they will affect the formation of the baby's lungs. What this means is that we're pretty much screwed. In some cases, the pain may resolve itself. I'd love to hear from other women who've had the pain abate before the birth of their child. So far, what I've heard hasn't been too positive. I've been using a heating pad, which I've found to be helpful. During the day when I can't be tied to a cord, I've used the Thermacare heat wraps in the XL size so that they can wrap around one side of the ribs. Both of these methods of pain relief were okayed by my ob-gyn. I've taken Tylenol to help with the pain and tried to move around instead of sitting down. Also, rubbing below the spot seems to help for the moment. The pain usually returns as soon as I stop. I was concerned about applying heat to an inflammation. Another doctor suggested I should alternate cold with heat. I hope this helps any other women who are experiencing the same kind of discomfort. Know that it has a name and that you're not alone. Good luck!

I was so happy to find this site! I started getting pain in my mid-back on the left side by my shoulder blade at about 3 months. I am now almost 6 months. It started getting worse and worse and then the pain started on my left side below my b___st. My OB/GYN referred me to an Internal Medicine doctor who said I cracked a rib! This was not the case since about 2 weeks after that diagnose the pain in my back switched to the right side! My OB/GYN then referred me to a chiropractor which I have gone to about 4 times but it does not seem to help. They put me on a track bed where I need to lie on my back and my understanding is that we should not be doing that! The pain is so intense, especially in the afternoon, that I have been crawling under my desk at work in order to lay down to relieve the pain, even for 5 minutes. I decided that I could not continue with this so I got a note from my OB/GYN to work from home. It just got approved this week and am now working from home. This is my first child and most of my friends have children, but NO ONE has ever told me that there could or would be this kind of pain during my pregnancy. I understand being uncomfortable and then intense labor pain but this is ridiculous. I had planned on having one more but I am seriously rethinking that idea. My sincere sympathy for all of you going through this. My hope is that writing this out will at least ease some of the frustration if not the pain!!

Hi all, I'm new here and came to see if there were answers that I'd been looking for since I was pregnant the first time, 27 years ago. Now, my daughter is expecting in July and told me she is having the same symptom I had. I see most of you have this pain under your right side, making you believe it has something to do with your gall bladder, etc.. I began having this excruciating pain under my left rib, around my 5th month. It radiated around to my back, and when it was at it's worst, you could actually see the skin under the rib get white, and it would become numb. Nobody had answers for me, but later I found that it is quite common. I was told it was from a nerve that the baby is lying on in the uterus, that travels up to the b___st area. It goes away after pregnancy, but as an adult, now 47, I've gained some weight and have been checked for hernia in that area, as it feels as if it 'bubbles' up, or 'squeezes' out, when I sneeze or lift. Apparently weight has something to do with it. I hope this helps someone. I didn't get answers for a long time.

Nicole T. Thanks so much for a name for this pain!! I am 47 and have alternate bouts with this pain even after 27 years since my first child. Now my daughter is experiencing it also. Mine must be unusual though, as I have this pain intermittenly whenever I gain some weight. Thanks again

I have had rib pains in my last pregnancy and now with this one. I also went through all the gallbladder tests and such with no reason why my ribs on my right side would hurt. I was on pain pills that did nothing at all for the pain. Now in my second pregancy I found that at night I wrap my ribs just under my b___sts with a elastic bandage. Not to tight but not to loose. I am able to sleep better at night with no pain and the pain doesnt seem to be to bad during the day when the wrap is off. I hope this will help for I know the pain we are all going through.God Bless

Thank god for this forum! I'm at my witts end from this pain, under the b___st, and stretching around to the back - and was convinced I was alone. My doctors comment was "That's unusual!" I really need to work for another month or two, but I have been in tears this weekend over the pain. My husband (who's a PA) said that they subscibe Vicaden to pregnant women, has anyone gotten to that point? I'm pulling my hair out, not sure how to cope. Crimson

Hello, I really hate to be the bringer of bad news to everyone. But this is my second pregnancy and both of them with rib pain. It did get so bad that I was given 10mg vicodin for the pain. But all it did was make me very sleepy and didnt even touch the pain. Like in my last post I wrap my ribs with elastic at night to sleep and I sleep proped up with 3 pillows. I am at least able to sleep. But through the day I suffer. I try going with out a bra but it doesnt work either. The only relief in sight is the birth of the baby. After that the pain will go away. I still have 8 weeks to suffer then I am free!!!! God bless all you out there that have to suffer with this also.

Thank goodness for this website! My doctor and midwife both told me they haven't heard of this before(!?). I've had my pain since 15 weeks and started as a st_tch pain but now is a general agonising pain all round my rib cage. Am 31 weeks now and even lying down gives little comfort. I've been told by the hospital (yes it got that bad i went to A&E) that i had inflamed ribs and inflamed cartlidge, i've also been told i've got a short body so maybe that's the reason we're all suffering!!! I'm afraid i don't have any miracle cures other than lying flat and ice packs. The most annoying thing is people thinking they know what the problem is "aah is your baby kicking you in your ribs?" NO, IT'S NOT I'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS!" I'm sure they think i'm just being hormonal but unless you've had this pain, you just can't imagine it can you! It's certainly given me hope reading everyone else's comments, can't even think about wanting a 2nd baby at the moment though!!! x Thank goodness for this website! My doctor and midwife both told me they haven't heard of this before(!?). I've had my pain since 15 weeks and started as a st_tch pain but now is a general agonising pain all round my rib cage. Am 31 weeks now and even lying down gives little comfort. I've been told by the hospital (yes it got that bad i went to A&E) that i had inflamed ribs and inflamed cartlidge, i've also been told i've got a short body so maybe that's the reason we're all suffering!!! I'm afraid i don't have any miracle cures other than lying flat and ice packs. The most annoying thing is people thinking they know what the problem is "aah is your baby kicking you in your ribs?" NO, IT'S NOT I'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS!" I'm sure they think i'm just being hormonal but unless you've had this pain, you just can't imagine it can you! It's certainly given me hope reading everyone else's comments, can't even think about wanting a 2nd baby at the moment though!!! x